U.S. President Donald Trump announced the imposition of major sanctions — the first of his second term — against Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.
At the same time, the European Union announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement on even tougher sanctions targeting Russian hydrocarbons and is discussing the use of frozen Russian state assets for the benefit of Ukraine.
The new U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil coincide with the EU’s decision to completely ban the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), targeting so-called “ghost ships” — tankers used by Moscow to bypass international sanctions and continue supplying LNG to Europe.
These “ghost ships” load Russian LNG in international waters, transfer it to third countries where it is reclassified as domestic, and then re-enter global markets.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary stated that Washington is prepared to “go further if necessary” and that “we encourage our allies to join us in adopting these sanctions.”
The U.S. sanctions were announced a day after the final postponement of the planned Trump–Putin meeting, a development that President Trump said left him “angry.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev commented that the Trump administration’s decisions to cancel a summit in Budapest and impose sanctions on Russian energy companies show that Washington is “asking for trouble” with Moscow.
Source: ΝΥΤ
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